Implantable pulse generators such as pacemakers and defibrillators provide cardiovascular therapy to patients. Electrical stimulation such as electrical pulses or electrical shocks is provided to the patient's heart by the implantable pulse generator to control the heart's function, such as controlling the rhythm and/or pace. The implantable pulse generators generally employ application programs that control various behaviors of the implantable pulse generators. For example, an application program may be executed by a processing device to perform a particular therapy routine and/or to provide monitoring and data gathering of the patient's cardiovascular condition. An application program may also be executed to allow the implantable pulse generator to communicate externally, either to send or receive data with a device programmer or other external device.
Conventionally, the implantable pulse generator communicates under the control of an application program. The external device in communication with the implantable pulse generator utilizes a complimentary application program so that there is a compatible exchange of data between the two devices. Thus, a standardized communication protocol is not utilized since the communication is directly between the application programs of the two devices. However, because there is no standardized form of communication, the implantable pulse generator is limited in its ability to communicate with a variety of devices and application programs.
Furthermore, the exchange of data typically occurs over an inductive coupling established by the close proximity of a magnetic wand to the implantable pulse generator. Therefore, the addressing of the data is not required since the broadcasted data can only be received by the wand placed at the implantable pulse generator. However, it remains desirable to have an implantable pulse generator that can communicate over an inductive link without requiring each application program to establish the communication protocol. Additionally, for implantable pulse generators that have longer range capabilities through radio frequency communication and/or through downstream network transmissions, data being transmitted without addressing information may not be delivered to an intended recipient and/or may be delivered to an unintended recipient.